Today's passage: John 10:22-30
Helpful thoughts:
- The Feast of Dedication took place in December. The “Dedication” commemorated was the rededication of the Temple in 164 A.D. after it had been desecrated by Antiochus Epiphanes.
- The Jews wanted Jesus to declare Himself as the Christ/Messiah because they wanted Him punished! They got what they wanted in the end (See verse 31).
- The sheep hear the shepherd's voice and believe…and follow their Shepherd!
- Both of these statements are true:
- Once a Christian is saved, he/she cannot lose their salvation (“No one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.”)
- Once a Christian is saved, they must follow Jesus (“They hear my voice…and they follow me.”)
- James 2:14-26
- The Bible does not teach a person to pray a prayer for salvation and then live a sinful life and expect eternal life (“Should we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid!”)
- The Bible does teach that lost sinners are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. And then those saved sinners become new creations who will be progressively transformed into Christ-likeness (Ephesians 2:8-10, 2 Corinthians 5:17-21, Philippians 1:6)
- Both of these statements are true:
Questions to consider:
- What did these people want to do (Of their own will) to the Son of God? Why didn't they believe? What is the answer Jesus gives in this text?
- Why isn't anyone able to snatch you out of Christ's (And the Father's!) hands? Who decided you would be in God's hands? Who “gave” you to Christ? Who gave you eternal life? Where does all the credit go? Why do we have every reason to rest at ease knowing our eternity is secure?
- When would any professing Christ NOT have reason to rest at ease concerning their eternity? If a professing Christian is struggling with assurance of their salvation, how could you use this passage to give them good counsel? (Answer this last question BOTH for the person who is living in sin and for the person who is following Jesus.)